Response to Adam Carolla Article

I know I shouldn't even be writing a blog about this and acknowledging Adam Carolla's ignorant comments in : The New York Post Article

Look, I am a female comic and deeply steeped in the comedy world. So, I feel like if I don't say something, it won't be out there. Plus, I just got into a twitter argument with some idiot 21 year old with 5 followers, and I'm a little embarrassed. Obviously, my mind is like, "You have to get this out of your system, Rosie."  I've read the retorts on various websites, and frankly, most of them suck. Let me tell you and explain what is really going on here.

First and foremost, I'm not going to say women are funnier than men or men are funnier than women. Some women are funnier than some men and vice versa. Humor is completely subjective. It is completely unprovable because there are no facts here. Just opinions. The list of funny women is very long. Most people cite Roseanne Barr, Joan Rivers, Sarah Silverman, Phyllis Diller, Margaret Cho, Tina Fey, Kathy Griffin, Betty White, etc. Honestly, there are literally thousands of funny famous women. I can list them all here to say, "See?! Look, we are funny!" But that would be pointless because it's not provable. What is provable is that the general public is just not exposed to that many funny females, and that is a fact.

In addition to being funny, people have to know you are funny, by seeing you perform or show your work. Any female comic who has been in the business for even 1 year can back me up. It's not just about being funny. Women have to deal with constant sexual harassment by other male comics, club owners, and bar patrons performing in late night venues. Traveling and touring is hard if you have a kid and even worse if you'd like to be a half decent mommy. In addition, if you are half way good looking, you get discrimination from unattractive woman audience members, sometimes other female comedians, and even bookers. There are a lot of haters out there!

In all my years doing stand up, I have seen so many hilarious women quit the business and never make it to fame level because they chose to have a family, had an unsupportive spouse, or just got tired of constantly having to prove themselves. About 5 years ago, I was trying to market and book a "Hot Chicks of Comedy" tour. I approached many comedy clubs and corporate booking agents and was told "Hot, funny women just don't sell." This is despite the fact that the show idea was based on me doing previously SOLD OUT shows with two other hilarious and hot female comics. After our shows, women and men came up to us in droves and begged us to take the show on the road. I heard comments like, "Oh my God. I am so happy you are representing a different point of view. Not the same old male comic garbage," and "Thank you so much. I was so happy to see funny and cute women." A lot of men came up to us and told us they actually thought funny women were sexy and wished they could see more funny, hot women!

I told my friend, Christina Pazsitzky , and she told me that she and April Macie did a naughty and nice tour which was SOLD OUT at every venue. I know that most of America is not exposed to funny women because the comment I get the most after I perform is, "I normally don't think women are funny, but you were hilarious!" People normally don't think women are funny, because they are not exposed to these women. I see them every night in comedy clubs, bars, and coffee shops because I am out there watching and performing comedy all the time. Most people go to a comedy show once a month, if that. Some go once a year or watch comedy on tv or youtube. I am at comedy clubs several times a week, sometimes multiple clubs in one night. I literally see hundreds of comedy shows a year, and I see funny women all the time. The majority of people just literally do not know these funny women exist, especially if you are unfortunate enough to go to a bad show. In fact, I have met many people that have never even been to a comedy show in their entire lives, yet these people feel like they have the right to judge comedy they see through filtered media, like cable television!

Let's be honest, sometimes the women who get to the top are not always the funniest. Sometimes, it is the most hard working or the most ruthless or the ones with the best managers or agents. There are also less women in stand up comedy than men. This is also a fact that can be proven. Go to any comedy show and there will be at least 5 male comics to every female comedian. Will all 5 male comics be funnier than the one female? No. Most likely, 2 or 3 of the male comedians will be unfunny, but you can not compare equally because there is only one female comic on the show? Not 5 female comedians? In my experience, percentage wise, there are at least as many funny female comics as male comics(There are a lot of bad male comics, as well). Women have to work harder and write more to be respected among peers in comedy.

In fact, there are so many funny women out there, that sometimes I worry if I will even stand out as a female comic. I was recently judging the CA funniest female comedy contest, and I was so happy and impressed to see so many hilarious comedians. Not one female comic on the show was unfunny. However, none of them are famous. So, nobody knows who they are or has experienced them being funny. Finally, the main comedy venue in America, Comedy Central, has a certain demographic it has to appease to get corporate sponsors and advertising revenue. That demographic is ::surprise:: male, 18-32 years old, and their market research teams show them that males 18-32 want to see males 18-32 performing comedy. This is also a known and documented fact. The sexual harassment, hatred, and difficulty breaking into the mainstream are all facts and can be easily documented by doing some mild fact finding through google or simply asking any female comedian (or even male comedian) that you meet. Literally any, and I can bet the percentage is 100%, of female comedians have experienced what I am describing above. Are females less funny than males? Well, that is a matter of your opinion, but you can't have a very educated opinion, if you haven't equally been exposed to both sides, can you?

If you live in a major metropolitan area, please go to a local comedy club and support live comedy. I promise you, if you see enough live comedy. You will see just as many unfunny males and females and also funny ones.

Here is a list of some of the funny women in comedy I know who are rising stars. Maybe you have seen them or know them or maybe you haven't heard of them yet, but they are hilarious:

Alysia Wood, Tracy Walker, Jen Murphy, Amy Anderson, Bobbie Oliver, Sally Mullins, Christina Pazsitsky, Cathy Tanaka, April Macie, Shelagh Ratner, Alyson Weaver, Jenny Yang, Kat Radley, Justine Marino, Jackie Gold, Bernadette Batts, Jackie Fabulous, Debbie Lockhart, Dixie Perkinson, Christy Murphy, Esther Provitsky, Nadine Rajabi, Cocoa Brown, Shayla Rivera, Lang Parker, Melissa McQueen, Christina Walkenshaw, Dava Krause, Fia Perera, Christela Alonzo, Amanda Egge, Melinda Hill, Lauren Ashley Bishop, Georgia Van C, Sardia Robinson, Melissa Shoshani, Jade Catta-Preta, Allison Weber, Ro Delle Grazie, Kristi McHugh, Marianne Sierk, Laura Rosenberg, Jen Kober, Lisa Landry, Amy Snowden, Rene Gautier, Denise Ramsden, Courtney Cronin, Ramona Stephens, Kanisha Buss, Rebekah Kochan, Shannon Hatch, Danielle Stewart, Bethany Dwyer, Gail Gramlich, Laura Hayden, Poppy Chaplain, Lori Callahan, Chantal Rae, Esther Ku, Sharon Barrigan, Talia Harari, Aiko Tanaka, Candace Thompson, Melanie Baldonado, Jodi Borello, Tracy Skene, Lahna Turner, Trish Suhr, Sarah Tiana, Nancy Lee, Leana Benson...oh yea, and me!

Please, google them, follow them, add them. (If you are a funny woman and my friend and I forgot you, I am sorry. There are so many funny women in my mind right now, I can't think straight.)